1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pad for an electronic drum in which a musical sound is obtained as an electronic sound by electronically converting a striking sound, and an electronic drum having the same.
This application claims priority on Japanese Patent Application No. 2004-63888 filed on Mar. 8, 2004, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of the Related Art
This kind of electronic drum and pad for electronic drum serving as the striking face are described, for example, in Japanese Patent Application, First Publication No. Hei 9-244633 (corresponding to the U.S. Pat. No. 5,837,915).
Examples of characteristics required of the material of such a pad for an electronic drum include quietness of a  striking sound generated when the pad is struck by a stick, sufficient structural durability to endure long-term striking and intense striking, chemical durability to withstand deterioration due to ultraviolet light, oxygen and moisture, and a striking feel which resembles that of an acoustic drum.
As the material of the pad, there have conventionally been used polymeric elastic materials which show elasticity at normal temperature, for example, rubbers such as natural rubbers and various synthetic rubbers, and olefinic and styrenic thermoplastic elastomers. When using materials having a moderate hardness, for example, natural rubbers and styrenic thermoplastic elastomers, striking feel is improved because of good resiliency. However, there arise problems such as damage due to striking, and deterioration due to ultraviolet light as well as moisture and oxygen in the air because of poor structural durability and chemical durability.
When using materials having low hardness, for example, rubbers containing a dienic double bond and thermoplastic elastomers containing plasticizers such as low molecular weight oil component, quietness is improved because of high impact absorption properties, however, there arise problems such as poor striking feel due to greasiness, damage due to striking and deterioration due to ultraviolet light as well as moisture and oxygen in the air.
Japanese Patent Application, First Publication No. Hei 9-311684 (corresponding to the U.S. Pat. No. 5,585,581) discloses a material of a pad 6, comprising a film and a gel containing a polymeric material as a main component wrapped within the film. This material is obtained by wrapping a fluid gel having the same resiliency as that of an acoustick drum with a non-adhesive film such as polyurethane film, and it is considered that a good striking feel and durability can be achieved concurrently. However, the non-adhesive film faces not only the striking face, but also a substrate. Therefore, it is necessary to further use a plate for solid or a retaining ring so as to mechanically retain this pad on the substrate, resulting in a complicated structure.